Deadly Vows

Directed by Alan Metzger, Deadly Vows follows Gerald McRaney’s Tom Weston as he conspires to off his wife (Peggy Lipton’s Nancy) after meeting and marrying a much younger woman (Josie Bissett’s Bobbi). It’s a decidedly familiar setup that is, at the outset, employed to less-than-captivating effect by Metzger, as the filmmaker, working from a screenplay by Philip Rosenberg, delivers a low-rent, deliberately-paced endeavor that doesn’t seem to be making any attempt to hide its made-for-television origins – although, in fairness, the movie does benefit from McRaney’s engaging turn as the often remarkably villainous main character. There’s little doubt, then, that Deadly Vows‘ eventual transformation into an impressively entertaining piece of work is surprising, to say the least, as the picture, beyond a certain point, finally embraces its sordid subject matter and becomes the unabashedly trashy melodrama one might’ve anticipated – which ultimately does cement its place as an instantly forgettable yet entirely watchable effort.

**1/2 out of ****